Bentivegna Brood

Wow

2009-07-08T16:02:00.003-05:00

I have not posted anything in a while. I've been catching up with everyone on facebook - I've not been diligent with the blog. Everything is as usual these days. Southeastern has changed to 4 - 10 hour days for the summer. I'm tired when I get home at 6, but I do have every Friday off. I get one whole day to spend time with my kids (besides the weekend).
We have finally completed some things off the "honey-do" list for the house. We've been in it for a whole year! The kids are still loving the pool and the neighborhood.
I'll post some pictures soon.

Thanks for being patient. Be in touch soon.

Catching up

2009-04-20T11:10:00.003-05:00

It's already April! Life in the Bentivegna household is going fine. We've got the pool all ready and the kids have already jumped in a couple times. It's still cold so they don't stay in for long. It's about to get very busy at work with all the camps and dance revues starting.

Here are the latest pictures of the kids. This was Easter. They are growing so fast! They are still my babies though.

Pete and soccer

2009-02-10T13:48:00.003-06:00

Hello all - just wanted to share a few pics of Pete and the Lab School Soccer Team. They went undefeated and won the championship in Baton Rouge. He is now playing with the traveling parish team. I just had to brag a bit. Enjoy the pics!

Madi is doing great. She is almost as tall as me and getting prettier every day. She is still playing piano and singing in the mirror.

What's goin on

2009-01-21T08:19:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in a while due to just being a little busy. Right now, the kids both have science and social studies fair projects to work on so I've been assisting them. Madi and her bestest friend Lyndsey are working on the Wii Mii age. It's pretty neat. Pete is exploring the Bill of Rights. Kinda timely since we have a new president.

We also have some wonderful things going on with our church that I'm excited about. We're starting up our new series of small groups. Madi is able to participate in the youth group now. I'm going to get re-involved in the International Student Ministry program. It's exciting to see God moving in so many ways.

I'm including a picture of baby Lucy. She's grown so much and is such a good addition to the family. And here is a picture of Madi and Lyndsey while they were "working" on their school project.

Will update again soon!

FACEinHOLE

2008-12-17T10:57:00.001-06:00

Create your own FACEinHOLE

FACEinHOLE

2008-12-17T10:28:00.001-06:00

Create your own FACEinHOLE

Snow Day!

2008-12-15T21:32:00.003-06:00

December 11, 2008 - it snowed in Hammond! I added lots of photos on my facebook so if you need further proof, go check it out. We totally did not know what to do with ourselves. It was absolutely beautiful though. We were one of the lucky ones who kept our power, but lost phones and cell service.

2008-12-05T09:17:00.002-06:00

Birthday cards from the two kids. Had to show you the difference between my boy and girl! And yes, Pete's picture is on a torn out sheet of notebook paper...

Pete's day

2008-12-02T09:48:00.002-06:00

So yesterday was my 37th birthday, Pete turns 11 today and Madi will be 12 next week! He got a new bike, a new playstation game, and 2 movies. He is into Star Wars right now so we got him the new cartoon Star Wars movie. He brought cupcakes to school to share. I fixed him his favorite breakfast - french toast. So I hope he is having a great day at school, because he certainly had a great morning at home.

Did anyone see the planets by the moon last night - I think it was Jupiter and Venus. You can see them right after sunset. Make sure you take the kids outside to see them this evening if you can.

2008-11-25T09:20:00.002-06:00

My grandmother passed away Monday morning. She's been in a nursing home for quite a while now. She's had 2 strokes in the past 5 years. They think she may have had another stroke on Friday. The kids and I went to see her this past weekend, though my aunt said it was strictly for us to see her...she was not awake nor aware. It was very hard to see her like that. The funeral is tomorrow so just keep my entire family in your thoughts.

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for - especially a God that loves us.

Today....

2008-11-19T11:25:00.002-06:00

Today is my mom's birthday. Last week was my dad's birthday. I just was thinking of how fast time flies and that my kid's will be 11 and 12 next month. I'm just blessed that I have my family and friends. To all those who read this, God bless and thanks for being there for me when I need you.

2008-11-16T20:43:00.002-06:00

If you think I'm bad about spoiling my kids, check out this video of Santo spoiling our cat. I've also never put a video on so I'm also practicing. Please forgive me that it's in our bathroom!

Relay for Life

2008-11-16T20:40:00.003-06:00

This weekend, Madi spent most of her day at North Oak park helping with Relay for Life. Here's a picture of her and Lyndsey on our way out and home. I'm also attaching a picture of Lucy. She sleeps in the funniest positions. I had to share this one with you.

What a Day!

2008-11-12T20:35:00.002-06:00

You know when you feel very close to God, and things are going great, and then you have one of those days? I had one of those days. It was an incredibly frustrating day at work, and then I started getting the phone calls from the kids this afternoon about things that happened at school and some bad grades, etc. I know that this is a typical attack from Satan and I'm not letting it get the best of me. By the time I arrived home, I had prayed about it and God definitely calmed my nerves. Praise God for His patience and His forgiveness! Now, I need to pass that along to my children! : )

Did You Know??

2008-11-11T09:53:00.002-06:00

Armistice Day Becomes Veterans Day
World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.
In 1968, new legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

Adding pictures

2008-11-05T08:43:00.003-06:00

So I have added lots of pictures to my facebook site. You can visit it from the link below. Here are some random pictures of the kids from Trick or Treat and our visit to Pensacola. Also our wonderful student workers and Grad Asst did a phenomenal job on our door decorations for Homecoming so I wanted to show you our "Genie" from our theme, "I love Roomie."

Thoughts on the election. I am anxious to see what will happen in the next four years. But I'm definitely at peace b/c God says he hears the prayers of the righteous. And my family did a lot of praying this week. I'm going to remain positive and pray for Mr. Obama.

Facebook | My Photos - Kids

2008-11-04T13:28:00.000-06:00

Facebook My Photos - Kids

Well, it's been a while...

2008-11-03T13:25:00.002-06:00

I really thought I would be better at this thing, but as it turns out, I am easily distracted. At home, I seldom sit at the computer and at work, I'm limited. And I never have the camera with me at work to download photos. I am going to take some pictures of the kids tonight and add them. Madi asked me to measure her this morning and she is exactly 5 ft tall! I can't believe it. Next month, she will be twelve years old. My baby is growing up. Anyway, life has been good for the Bentivegnas. Santo and I are attempting to drop some pounds before the holiday season, so forgive me if I'm cranky from the lack of sugar!

Thanks for your patience and to all my friends who are so good at posting. You keep me busy reading up on all the kids' stuff and pictures. Love ya!

Back to School

2008-08-14T09:25:00.002-05:00

Madison and Pete have officially started and 6th and 5th grades. I can not believe they have grown so fast. So far, they are enjoying everything - from teachers to friends. Madi has started switching classes and has a locker. Of course, we have it fully stocked with mirrors and pictures, thanks to Target. Pete is just enjoying life. We are signing him up for football this weekend. This will keep my heart in shape. I'm just feeling a little sad today b/c all of my friends are having babies, and my babies are really not babies anymore. Santo thinks I keep adopting animals to make me feel better about it. Maybe?

Sorry I don't have any pictures to add. I will put some new ones up soon. Love!

Community Night July 20, 2008

2008-07-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

The Jordan and Asah Show

2008-07-21T15:08:00.002-05:00

There were so many pictures and I don't have them individually labeled so some may seem out of place. Just enjoy them!

More pictures

2008-07-21T15:01:00.003-05:00

Another set of pictures from Community Night

Community Night

2008-07-21T14:58:00.002-05:00

More pictures.....

Community Night

2008-07-21T14:51:00.002-05:00

We had Community Night, a monthly meal with our church, at our house this past weekend. Here are some pictures of the event. Santo and I enjoyed hosting it, and I think everyone had a great time. Wonderful food and even more wonderful friends.

Pete and Baseball

2008-06-20T10:31:00.003-05:00

Pete's team came in first! This is the photo that was in our local paper. Notice that he gave his name to the photographer as Santo. His Paw Paw Santo would have been so proud of him.

Kitten pictures

2008-06-07T08:12:00.003-05:00

We also had a small visitor last week - it was the smallest snake ever. He latched onto Santo's finger, but I missed that photo op.

I've been busy....

2008-06-07T08:03:00.004-05:00

Summer break has officially started and I can not believe it is already June 7th! We have a babysitter with the kids at home, but right now, they have been at Southeastern's Day camp. It gets them out of the house for a while, they get to hang out with friends, and they are completely exhausted when they get home. Pete has been doing great with baseball - his team is in first place! We have a tournament game Tuesday at 7 - single elimination. Madi starts piano for the summer with her first lesson today.

I'm adding some photos of the kids in our pool, and our new addition to the family. Santo will not hear of another baby, so the kids and I coaxed him into a new kitten. Her name is Lucy, and she is very sweet. Santo also recently celebrated a birthday so here are some photos of the kids during that visit.

2008-05-15T19:16:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm a little behind in posting. I'm including pictures of Pete's field trip to Baton Rouge recently. We visited the BR symphony and also the Old State Capitol. It is absolutely beautiful! I'm also bragging on Madi with softball. She's doing really well this year.

We had a really terrible storm come through south Louisiana yesterday. Seriously, I have not seen hail fall like that before in my life. I don't know if you can really see the picture. I opened the front door because the ground was covered with it, but Madi is scared of bad weather, so she is forcing me to close the door. I was more interested in the shot. The hail was blowing in, it was raining and blowing so hard. My neighbor had a tree fall on their house! We had some damage to our outside patio cover, but overall, I feel we came out ok.

Book Week

2008-05-03T19:18:00.003-05:00

Last week was Book Week at the Lab School. The students had a book exchange, won free books, and Friday, the parents were invited to read with our kids for 15 minutes. Here is a picture of Madi and Pete. As you can tell, I obviously picked the best book b/c they look so happy! Honestly, we did have fun. I appreciate all these little moments that I can share with them.

Also, here is a picture from this morning of Pete and his friend Samantha. Samantha has a turtle that she got from a downtown Hammond pet store - so guess what store we'll be visiting this week. Actually, I think I can handle a turtle.

The Office Bloopers Part 1

2008-04-30T10:12:00.001-05:00

yael naim new soul clip

2008-04-30T09:41:00.001-05:00

Pete #2

2008-04-30T08:54:00.003-05:00

Ok, no pictures today, but I have to tell you about his latest comment. We normally keep it on the country music tv station in the mornings, and Carrie Underwood has a video out for her "All American Girl" song. Pete is eating breakfast and I can tell the little mind is going. He says, "Mom, she's All American because she's not part Italian or anything? So does that mean I'm not All American?" Well, the song is pertaining to the fact the girl is just an all around American girl, not anything about heritage. So I told him that he was an All American boy - playing baseball, eating hot dogs, all the "American" stuff. He seemed relieved... And if you know Pete, you know that he is an All American boy!

I'm also sharing a couple of videos today. One is from my favorite show The Office. If you haven't watched it before, you may not find it amusing. The other is that song from the Mac commercial, and I just like it so much! Anyway, when you're bored, enjoy!

"Pete-isms"

2008-04-26T15:57:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share one of our "Pete-isms" with you today. We were on our way to the ball game, and I needed to run and pick up a protective cup for Pete. He asked why he needed to wear this thing, and I told him he might get hit, it might really hurt, and it could do something to prevent him from having children in the future - I try to make things as serious as possible with him, because he is by no means a serious child. Well, in all seriousness, he replied, "Mom, um, I'm not planning on having children. I don't think men can do that." Santo and I laughed and decided to not explain anything just yet. Thank God they are still innocent.

Not to leave out Madison...she had a Talented Music Recital on Thursday night, and here is a picture of Madi and 2 of her friends, Lyndsey and Elizabeth. They all three play piano. She sure looks grown up!

A Normal Saturday

2008-04-26T15:34:00.000-05:00

Today was opening weekend for Little League Baseball in Hammond. Pete has played for about 4 years now - and loves it. Santo and I love to watch him; Madi, not so much. I think it's the fact that she actually has to leave the comforts of home and sit in the heat with nothing to do. I guess if I were an 11 year old, I may not find that to be a fun outing either. Any way, I wanted to post a picture of Pete about to hit, and also a picture of our little buddy Streed. He joined us today in the festivities.

I'm finally on....

2008-04-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

After I have been reading many of my friends' blogs, I have finally decided to jump on the internet friend connection. What a great way to stay in touch with out-of-town friends and family! I hope this is a good outlet for me and that I can share photos and daily children funnies with you. It may take me a while to get it looking as good as some of yours, but I can assure you that I will put forth the effort.

A little about us - Santo and I have been married for almost 15 years this May. We have three beautiful children that I will soon be sharing photos of. The two little ones attend the SLU Lab School and keep us busy with music lessons, soccer, baseball, and softball. We both have wonderful extended families that we couldn't live without.

Since I'm not at home right now, I will try to add some photos tonight to share. I think I'm actually looking forward to all of this - see you soon!